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So What Went Wrong?

Jeesh, how bout everything? I'm not surprised that the Flyers are taking this series, they've outmatched us considerably in recent games before these playoffs.
But the possibility of a four game sweep is just crazy. I'm pretty sure we've been beaten in every aspect of the game. They
played Penguin hockey and beat us at it, we tried playing Flyer hockey and they beat us at it. And The Flower... what the heck happened to The Flower? Even if we outmatched the Flyers in every way, our goaltenders performance wouldn't have given us a
chance to win.

Yesterdays performance was despicable. Almost ashamed to be a Pens fan after that one. Nonetheless I'm going to be a sad jigawatt when this series is over. What am I gonna do, watch baseball?

Not time to speculate such things yet. We look awful, but are not eliminated yet. Granted, a team down 0-3 in the playoffs only came back to win the series 3 times in NHL history, but I hate the Flyers and will continue to believe that all things are possible until elimination is official.

Of course, because of these unforeseen circumstances, I've decided to do the unthinkable in order to reverse all of the bad juju encircling the team at this time. In my closet, I have 2 Pens jerseys that I figured are now completely useless and would never be worn again...a powder blue Talbot and an old school Jagr. Even though both contributed greatly to Penguin Cup victories, I could not even fathom wearing a jersey with the name of a current Flyer on it. But, in a measure of reverse psychology of some sort, I'm going to wear the Jagr jersey tomorrow...road victory...then the Talbot jersey Friday...home victory...back to the Jagr...road victory...and then Talbot once again for the triumphant return to CONSOL for game 7 in which we eliminate the hated Flyers. At least that's what I'm telling my delusional self right now.

I watched the game emotionless. Getting double digit goals did not fire me up in the least. I was more ticked off that the refs turned a hockey playoff game into a damn soccer match. Flopping was overtly encouraged, because if you even appeared as if your opponent breathed on you wrong, they were going to call a penalty. I hate "over-officious jerk" officials, to steal a line from Marv Levy. Because they did not want the game to "get away from them" any contact whatsoever was penalized. That's not hockey.

I am encouraged going forward, though, because Fleury finally looked like Fleury again in the 2nd and 3rd periods. He was out there playing aggressively, going for poke checks instead of hanging back deep in his creese with his butt across the goalline. He seemed to have the swagger he gets when he is in a regular season shootout, and that was refreshing to see. Meanwhile, in spite of coming into the game with a 3-0 series lead, we still have not seen a single good game from a Flyer goalie yet in these playoffs. They've only won because Fleury was downright awful while their goaltending was merely bad. Does Laviolette put Bryzgalov back in net on Friday, or stick with Bobrovsky who has had great success against the Pens in Pittsburgh this year? If Fleury continues on his game, it shouldn't matter, since both Flyer goalies looked pitiful tonight.

Oh, and one last thing...Zack Rinaldo is a despicable excuse for a human being. That is all.

I hate "over-officious jerk" officials, to steal a line from Marv Levy.

I'm quite certain I had a football follies tape with that clip.

If I'm Laviolette I think I go with Bobrovsky for game 5. Sure he was awful for 1 period last night, but he's pretty much owned the Pens in previous meetings. Bryzgalov may be their number one, but he has sucked out loud all four games, Fleury was just that much worse. And I hope Paul Martin stays out with his "injury."

Yep, if MAF stays strong I think we have a chance at this comeback. We can certainly outscore them, but Fleury is the key.